


minibot rumor mill

by Radio Rascal (Vagrants)



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Humor, M/M, Mech Preg (Transformers), Rumors, Transformer Sparklings, borderline crack at times, death is discussed or referenced but doesn't happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27125566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vagrants/pseuds/Radio%20Rascal
Summary: Tailgate witnesses an odd interaction between Galvatron and Cyclonus that leads him to some interesting, extremely incorrect conclusions.
Relationships: Galvatron/Megatron (Transformers)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	minibot rumor mill

**Author's Note:**

> written for a now-cancelled rarepair week over on tumblr. this was for day six and the prompt was "sparkling/mayhem."

Like a lot of situations on the  _ Lost Light _ , it started with a chance encounter. Tailgate and Cyclonus were on their way to Swerve’s when they crossed paths with Galvatron and Megatron, who were coming out of Ratchet’s medbay.

Both pairs stopped as Galvatron and Cyclonus stared at each other. They exchanged one wordless nod, then both groups continued in their separate ways. It almost seemed like those two could communicate through telepathy sometimes.

Tailgate peered up at Cyclonus, curious. “What was that about?”

“I understand exactly what’s going on,” Cyclonus replied absently.

“And that is?” Tailgate tapped Cyclonus’s skirt plating.

He startled slightly, as though he’d forgotten he wasn’t alone. “He’ll be fine. Hopefully.”

“What? Who? What’s going on?”

“It’s really none of our business,” Cyclonus said hastily. “...Well, I suppose it will be soon, but—no, I’ve said too much.” He quickened his pace, almost breaking into a run. Tailgate struggled to keep up.

* * *

“...Then he didn’t talk about it the rest of the night,” Tailgate said. “He kept staring out of the window, like he used to do.”

Rewind and Swerve, sitting across from him at their Official Minibot Club Table, nodded and muttered.

“It doesn’t feel like one of them was there for a check-up,” Rewind said. “They’re definitely covering up  _ something _ .”

“Cyclonus said ‘he’ll be fine, hopefully,’ but he used to say not to hope…” The gears in Tailgate’s brain turned. His optics began to spark. “Oh, my god. Megatron is dying.”

The others looked at him. Swerve snorted and waved dismissively. “Nah, I think Galvs just has him whipped. Have you seen how Megatron dotes on him?”

“Have  _ you _ ?” Tailgate asked. “They haven’t been to the bar in…”

“Months,” Rewind said. “Maybe there is something to Tailgate’s theory, Swerve.”

Swerve was shaking his head. “I heard, the other day, that Megatron got out of his captain’s chair and let Galvatron sit in it for like thirty minutes. Why would he do that if he’s the one who’s dying?”

“So you think  _ Galvatron’s _ dying,” Tailgate said.

“Nobody’s dying!”

“We need more information,” Rewind said. “And you can leave that to me.”

“Plenty of mechs come to the bar, I’ll ask what they think.”

“No!” Rewind half-rose from his seat. “We can’t let this spread around too much. If they haven’t told anyone, it means they want it to be a secret. Besides, Swerve, when you’re doing investigative journalism, you want to go right to the source…”

* * *

Megatron sat rigidly, clearly unused to entertaining guests. Rewind stood in front of him, equally stiff, unused to standing in the presence of two of the most powerful, and formerly most evil, Decepticons who had ever lived.

“So, how have you two been lately?” Rewind asked.

Megatron was about to answer, but Galvatron cut in, sliding onto the bench and bumping into him. “In pain,” Galvatron exclaimed. “Megatron, my back aches.”

Megatron sighed and lifted an arm to give Galvatron a half-hearted, one-handed massage somewhere on his back plates.

“I am cold.”

Megatron used his other hand to adjust the thermostat on the wall. “You were saying, Rewind?”

“Oh, it’s just that I'm…” He paused, consulting his datapad quickly. “Interviewing select interesting people on the Lost Light for a feature! So, Megatron, would you say anything unusual is happening to your body lately?”

“Uh…” Megatron glanced over. Galvatron looked blissfully oblivious to the questions. “...Not mine.”

“Okay! What do you know about deadly diseases?”

“What?”

Rewind shuffled. They were giving him less to go on than he expected. “Galvatron, may I ask you a personal question?”

Galvatron regarded him with an inscrutable expression. “You can try.”

“Er, right. Do you ever worry that you might be carrying spores of some infectious, degenerative illness from the Dead Universe? What if one of us regular, not-undead mechs caught it? How could you tell if you’re not?”

Galvatron stared at him, at first impassive, then his face turned red and screwed up. “You can just say you think I’m weird and old and ugly.”

“I didn’t—”

“I’ll kill you!” Galvatron hissed. He tried to lunge forward but fell across Megatron’s lap instead, with his head pressed into the wall. He didn’t get back up.

“Please,” Megatron said, struggling to hold onto Galvatron so he didn’t fall on the floor. “Please go to sleep.”

“I haven’t slept in three days,” he replied. “Put that in your little book, Movieboy.”

“...It’s...Rewind.”

“What are these questions actually for?” Megatron asked. He looked half in the grave already, as opposed to Galvatron, who was apparently sleepless but seemed almost like he was wired up on something...

_Like worry?_ Rewind thought. _But then why make Megatron act like a servant? Does Galvatron know about it? He does, right?_ “You know, magazine things. There’s like columns and articles and stuff.” While he spoke, he inched towards the door. “Anyway, I have other mechs to interview. Have, uh, a good day.”

As soon as he was out of their hab suite, he was running.

* * *

Due to the sensitive nature of their meeting, this time the minibots were talking in the backroom of Swerve’s, where the extra glasses, utensils, and other things were stored. Nobody came back here except Swerve, so it was relatively secure.

‘So he’s definitely kicking it soon,” Rewind said after taking a big, long sip from his engex. “I can’t believe the way Galvatron’s treating him, either. It’s like he doesn’t know...or just doesn’t care.”

Swerve shook his head. “Somebody oughta get Megs outta there,” he said. “I mean, I know he’s Megatron, but nobody deserves that when they’re dying.”

“I wonder how long he has left,” Tailgate mused. “Do you think Rodimus knows?”

“If Rodimus wasn’t told, he probably got it outta them anyway,” Swerve said. “...But, he hasn’t been acting like he knows somebody’s about to die on his watch. You know how he gets when he does. Actually I think we’re the only ones who know. We could blow it wide open!”

“No blowing, Swerve,” Rewind warned. “When we gather enough evidence, we’ll go to them and talk to them about it. Megatron can’t keep it a secret forever. Not only because he’ll, well, die, but because…” He trailed off. “Well, there’s logistics and stuff to figure out!”

“You just want to get a story,” Tailgate said, but not in an accusatory way. “You’re like Swerve, you like knowing a secret, except you’re not going to tell everyone you meet.”

“Megatron’s not a lonely hermit in a cave, people should know when he’s about to die!”

Everything fell quiet, probably because the three of them realized at the same time that they weren’t alone. From behind a shelf of ornate glassware, Thunderclash walked out, looking sheepish. The minibots gaped at him, or one of them gaped while the other two did something unfathomable with the face-parts hidden under their masks.

“Um…” Thunderclash shuffled. “I didn’t mean to interrupt...I was only here for some extra glasses because I broke some. Sorry, Swerve,” he shot to the bartender. “I couldn’t help but overhear. Is it true? Megatron is dying?”

The three looked at each other, then back to Thunderclash. “Don’t tell anyone,” Rewind said.

“Of course! I regret that I stumbled on the secret like this.” He paused. “I’ll just be going. I promise I will not let anyone know.”

“Thanks,” Rewind said.

Thunderclash left the room without even getting the glasses. It took a few seconds for Swerve to jump out of his seat and run after Thunderclash.

“Hey! You break it you buy it!” he yelled as he left.

* * *

Thunderclash knocked on the hab suite door, then politely clasped his hands in front while he waited. He wasn’t going to tell anyone, but that didn’t mean he could ignore what he knew. This was a hard time for both of them and he wanted to do something, anything, to help.

To his surprise, it was Megatron who answered. He looked ready to pass out, but he was doing something, since he held an entire stack of blankets in one hand. “Thunderclash. What brings you here?”

Thunderclash put on a winning smile. “Oh, I was just in the area and thought I’d stop by.”

Megatron gave him a quizzical look, but admitted him to the hab suite. The recharge slab had been covered in blankets, and as Thunderclash stood there Megatron walked over to it and started adding more to the pile.

In one corner, Galvatron lay spread out on the floor, top half propped against the side of the bench so he could see the TV. He was playing Halo 2: Anniversary Edition on the PC, legendary difficulty. As Thunderclash watched, Galvatron used a neat trick to fly through one of the outdoor space sections of Cairo Station, then when he reached the airlock he used a grenade and a sword to kill like ten Covenant in about two seconds. It was impressive, but what did he think he was doing, working his own conjunx like this while he played video games?

Thunderclash held out a hand and Megatron stopped, blinking blearily down at the obstacle in his way. It didn’t seem like he knew what to do about it.  _ His brain module is wearing out, _ Thunderclash thought.  _ Poor man. _

“How...are you feeling?” he asked.

Megatron gave him a dim look.

Thunderclash placed his hand on Megatron’s shoulder. “It’s all right,” he said, his voice trembling with emotion. “It’s going to be all right.”

Behind Megatron’s shoulder, Galvatron zipped into the bomb room and started slashing the Elites to pieces with his one-hit-kill sword before they had enough time to shoot at him. He touched the bomb and activated the cutscene. “Not as fast as a TAS,” he said, mostly to himself. “But I’m getting there!”

“Whatayu talkibout?” Megatron asked.

“Megatron, you’re so worn out you’re slurring your words,” Thunderclash said. “I understand this is...frightening, the most frightening thing a mech can go through, but you must rest. Please.”

“It’s not frightening, really,” Megatron replied with a shake of his head. He moved out of Thunderclash’s grasp and continued rearranging the blankets on the recharge slab. “Just stressful. It’ll be over soon; tomorrow probably.”

“Maybe tonight,” Galvatron chirped. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“What a horrible thing to say,” Thunderclash snapped. It was unlike him, but he simply couldn’t believe what he was hearing! “How dare you!”

Galvatron dropped his controller and looked over his shoulder, completely ignoring the Master Chief doing badass stuff to the Covenant forces. His optics were wide and watery. “Why is everyone being mean to me today?” he growled through gritted teeth.

First, Thunderclash was surprised. That was more genuine emotion than anyone had ever seen from Galvatron. Then shame sank into his spark. Of course...this must have been how they were coping. Galvatron was older than everyone else on board; it made sense he came from a culture that handled death differently. “I am so sorry, Galvatron. That was uncalled for.”

Megatron was glaring hard enough to melt steel. “Leave,” he said.

Thunderclash said nothing, simply nodding as he stepped towards the door. This had went horribly and he was going to ruminate on it for days. As soon as he was out of the hab suite, he was running.

* * *

Since Megatron was apparently due to die soon, they formed a watch. Tailgate, Rewind, Swerve, and Thunderclash were clustered around the corner from Megatron and Galvatron’s suite, waiting to hear anything. They’d all agreed they’d probably hear or see Galvatron first. That’s why it surprised all of them when Ratchet ran down the hall, with none other than Anode on his heels.

“What are they doing?” Thunderclash asked in a whisper.

“They’re going in…” Tailgate tilted his head curiously. “I can get Ratchet going in, but why Anode? And why either of them if they know Megatron’s dying right now?”

“It is very odd, but I’m sure they have a good reason for it,” Thunderclash said.

They stood there for hours. At first they were all too tense to feel the passage of time, but after a while they started to twitch, becoming bored. How long did it take a mech to die?

“Maybe we should go up and ask them,” Swerve said, the first to break the silence. “Or, I dunno, do anything besides stand here? I’m getting a cramp.”

Tailgate glanced over his shoulder, towards the bridge. “Nobody else is coming...I guess they really didn’t know. Not even Rodimus…”

“Somebody should tell him,” Rewind said. “It’s...right. He deserves to have an idea of what’s happening.”

Tailgate felt all optics on him. “What?”

“You started all this, you tell him,” Swerve said.

“Excuse me?” Tailgate hissed.

At that moment, the hab suite door opened, startling all four of them into looking forward. Ratchet walked out, wiping his hands on a cloth, both of which were covered in bright, fresh energon. He looked tired and preoccupied with thought.

“We’re too late,” Tailgate moaned. He felt hands shoving at his back. “Fine,” he snapped, marching forward.

Ratchet stopped in his tracks and raised an optic. Tailgate tapped his fingers together as he considered what he should say.

“Uh...R-Ratchet,” Tailgate said. “Is it...did it happen?”

Ratchet smiled. “Yes, it’s done.”

The others appeared from their hiding place.

Ratchet gave them an odd look. “I know, I know. It’s a miracle none of us ever thought we would live to see, but Galvatron needs to rest now.” Ratchet gestured at them to move away from the hab suite, and when Ratchet told you to do something, you listened.

“I can’t believe it,” Rewind said. “Megatron’s really dead, and from brain-corrosion disease at that…”

“What are you talking about?” Ratchet peered at him.

“It fits his symptoms.”

“Megatron’s symptoms, you say?” Ratchet chuckled. He actually  _ chuckled _ . “Do any of you even know what’s going on?”

“Sure we do, Megatron’s dying,” Tailgate said. “Galvatron told Cyclonus and Cyclonus told me.”

Ratchet shook his head. He opened his mouth, ready to say something, but Anode stuck her head out of the room.

“Ratchet! We need you back in here,” she said.

Ratchet forgot the group and rushed to join her.

Thunderclash wiped away a tear. “They must think they can save him.”

“Brain-corrosion disease is incurable,” Rewind said matter-of-factly.

“Still feels really weird,” Swerve said.

“That’s it, I’m going to get Rodimus,” Tailgate said.

He’d never run faster in his life. He burst onto the bridge and gestured for Rodimus to get out of his captain’s chair. “Megatron’s dying,” he shouted.

Everyone on the bridge turned to look at him, some stunned, some trying to suppress what was probably glee. Rodimus just stared. “Huh?”

“From brain-worms, or something,” Tailgate said with a huff. “You need to hurry because it’s happening right now!”

“Uh, okay.” Rodimus pressed the intercom. “Everybody stand by for, um, I don’t know actually. Just stand by.” He stood and followed Tailgate down the hall.

When they arrived, everyone else was clustered around the door, trying to hear anything from within. “What’s going on here?” Rodimus asked.

“Megatron’s painful demise,” Thunderclash said. “I thought I heard Galvatron scream…”

Ratchet opened the door, a scowl on his face. “What are you all doing here?”

“Let me in,” Rodimus said, trying to squeeze through the gap under Ratchet’s arm.

With an angry huff, Ratchet stepped to the side and let the captain in. He immediately replaced himself, though, blocking anyone else from entry.

Rodimus’s face appeared over Ratchet’s shoulder. His optics were wide, but not with horror like Tailgate expected. “...Guys, you got it  _ all _ wrong.”

“Let them in, Ratchet,” Megatron said.

They crowded in, stopping short at what they saw, stupefied. Megatron was fine, sitting by the recharge slab. Galvatron was splayed out on there, half-covered by blankets, haphazardly tapping at a datapad that Anode was holding up for him at his other side.

A sparkling lay in the crook of one of his arms. Megatron held another.

“Whoa,” Swerve said.

“Huh.” Rewind shook his head in disbelief.

“But Cyclonus,” Tailgate muttered.

“But what?” came the soft reply from the door. Cyclonus walked over to him. “I received your message, Galvatron. Galvatron?”

“...e...f,” he whispered as he tapped the keys.

Anode frowned. “Are you sure you want to name your baby Master Chief?”

“What? It’s not better than The Second Numidium, Akulakhan?”

“It’s much better than The Second Numidium, Akulakhan, but you got to name Cyclonus 2, so I figured Megatron should get to name…”

“They didn’t  _ come out _ of Megatron.”

“So you’re definitely not dying,” Swerve said.

Megatron sighed roughly. “Where did you get that idea?”

“Cy…” Tailgate started. “It was a big misunderstanding. I’m sorry.”

Thunderclash and Rewind muttered apologies as well. Swerve, who had done surprisingly little during the whole affair, just shrugged with a smile on his face.

“I can’t believe you didn’t let anyone know,” Rodimus said, leaning in to take a close look at the sparkling in Megatron’s arms. The sparkling glared back at him.

“We didn’t know if it would be wise for everyone to expect them,” Megatron said. “What if something...happened to them? But I sent you an email, Rodimus. You didn’t read it?”

“I don’t read any of your emails,” Rodimus replied absently as he waggled a finger in front of the baby’s face. The baby bit him and he yelped, drawing back with a startled look on his face. “Half the time you send me chain letters about ghost girls who want to kill me or little boys who have burlap sacks for bodies or whatever, so I disregarded it out of hand.”

Megatron frowned at him. “I guess we should have made a formal announcement. I’m sorry for the confusion, everyone. We’re all fine, as you can see. Ratchet and Anode did a great job.”

Galvatron pouted up at him.

“And you did the  _ best _ job of all,” Megatron said, fondly patting one of his horns. “Especially with surprise twins.”

Cyclonus stepped over towards the recharge slab. “Cyclonus 2?” he asked.

“The sequel to Cyclonus,” Galvatron said. “Better graphics, almost none of the features. Just like a real sequel.”

“Well, I’m sure they’ll fix the lack of features with updates,” Cyclonus replied.

“His legal name will not be Cyclonus 2, just so you know,” Megatron interjected, pointing to the sparkling he held.

Rodimus raised a hand. “I have a few suggestions for names—hold on, that’s Magnus.” He held a hand up to his audial. “Yeah? They’re what? Ugh, fine.” He looked at the others. “So apparently the ‘news’ that Megatron was going to die spread through the ship. There’s a bit of a ruckus. I gotta go settle everything down.”

“Good luck,” Megatron said.

“Send me pictures of them doing cute stuff!” Rodimus said as he bounced from the room.

“I...have to go too,” Thunderclash said.

“I have to make sure nobody’s trying to loot my bar,” Swerve said.

“I think, uh, I hear Domey calling me,” Rewind said, following the first two out.

That left Tailgate with the little family and their doctors. “Uh...I shouldn’t have made those assumptions,” he said.

“Well, it’s far from the worst day we’ve had,” Megatron said. “Isn’t that right, Terminus 2?” he said down to the bundle in his arm.

“Sparklings are rare enough that I doubt a misunderstanding like this will happen again,” Ratchet said.

“Don’t speak too soon,” Cyclonus said.

“Cyclonus?” Ratchet asked.

“ _ Cyclonus _ ?” Tailgate asked, leaning close.

He turned on his heel and ran from the room. Tailgate chased after him, demanding answers, and this time he’d get them.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! i had the most fun with this one out of the whole week. it feels like it's been forever since i did a short story that was all weird and just fun to write. mostly this year i've been writing flash fiction, which is great, but i do like short story-length pieces.
> 
> the next two days...aren't even completely written, so i think my ambition to post one fic a day is going to get dashed. i didn't expect to get so sick! i at least know what i'm going to do, it's just that i don't know if i'm going to have it in me. it was a damn miracle i got this one done, given its length and i'm pretty sure i have the _flu,_ not a cold. this is one of my favorite rarepairs, so i guess that gave me the energy.
> 
> i watched an actual TAS of Cairo Station for the scene where Galvatron runs it, which is probably the most research i've ever done for a fic.


End file.
